Raw Food Nutrition
in [Obesity]
|
Prev: Study: Virus Causes Obesity - Is it time to quarantine the obese in the name of public safety?
Next: Obesity
From: Sir Oyan on 9 Feb 2006 16:03 Hello, I'm new to the group. I think I can start an interesting new thread, if anyone's interested. A while back I met a guy who made his own nutritional drink out of fresh produce. But I'm not trying to sell anything---honestly. To make a long story short, I ended up doing some research for him regarding basic nutrition. In the process I learned a few interesting things. Raw Food Nutrition The way I practiced it, I definitely saw results. And I can give you many good reasons why it makes good sense. If anyone is interested, I will try my best to explain, concisely, what I learned in the process of studying. Again, it will become apparent very quickly that I am not trying to sell anything---any product or single nutritional philosophy. But nutrition, as I found out, as well as anything connected with biology, is an enormously complicated subject. I don't have enough time to explain *everything* I have learned---and I don't pretend to be an expert. But if any of you show interest in this thread, I'll be happy to contribute what I can, giving time constraints. Meanwhile, here are some web searches you can make that you might find very interesting. I recommend that you add site:edu to your web searches for the following topics. That way you will get opinions that are as authoritative as possible. Please check my facts. I think you will find them generally reliable. NAFLD (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease) NASH (nonalcoholic steatohepatits) In brief: * People with NAFLD were once accused of being alcoholics, because their liver dysfunction had the same signature symptoms. liver specialists now know, however, that NAFLD is an entirely different disease. * One in five Americans are now considered to be obese * Liver specialists estimate that one in five Americans suffer from NAFLD * Liver specialists know that obesity and NAFLD are related, but can't scientifically prove whether obesity leads to NAFLD or NAFLD leads to obesity---(my own personal belief is that it would be more reasonable to call it a continuum, meaning that a circular model would probably explain it better than a linear model) * NASH, or nonalcoholic stateo-hepatitis, is the advanced stage of the disease, which results from liver scarring---the precursor to sihrossis (spelling?) * Many of those who suffer from NAFLD will develop sihrossis of the liver. Dr. Cabot, Liver Doctor I'm not promoting her website or her books. My method differs from hers, somewhat. But I have a lot of respect for point of view, and have learned some good things from her website. She is an Australian physician who believes that proper nutrition can have wonderful benefits. Liver health is at the core of her medical philosophy. I agree with her, but I am only a layman trying to educate himself. She's a doctor. Dr. Batmanjali (spelling?) Dr. Batmanjali was trained in medicine in Great Britain. During the takeover of Iran by Iranian students, back in the late 1970's, he became a prisoner of the new regime. In prison, other prisoners often sought him out to help them with their ailments. He became frustrated, though, because he had no medicines with which to treat them. Finally, one day, a man came to him in such distress, that he felt he *had* to prescribe *something* to make him feel better. So, he told the man to increase his water consumption. In short, the man got better. Dr. Batmanjali then started prescribing water to everyone who came to him for help. It was all he could prescribe. But to his suprise, most of his patients started getting better. Eventually he decided that virtually all modern humans drink far to little water. And he has developed a health strategy devoted to proper hydration as perhaps the most important first step in optimum health. Now, he does have some separate advice for people who suffer from kidney disease or edema (water retention). If anyone is interested, I will explain in a later message. People with kidney disease should seek medical advice before radically increasing their water consumption. And people who suffer from edema should probably measure both their water intake and urine output, at least in the beginning, if they radically increase their water intake. Raw Food Nutrition I'm not certain how I stand on this subject. Some raw foodists are strick about it, and eat nothing cooked. My own point of view is that one should eat as much fresh, raw produce as possible; but some things simply cannot be digested raw. Legumes and grains are an important source of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. But most grains and legumes must be cooked in order to be digestible. Meats are also a good source of protein. But the only meats that are edible raw ar freshly caught fish, such as sushi. It simply isn't practical for most modern people to eat raw meat. Even eating sushi is not entirely without risk. The DASH eating Plan The Dash Eating plan was the result of a study done by the NHLBI (The National Heart, Lung, Blood, Institute). If you go to their website, they will send you a pamphlet of the eating plan for free. And if you need more than once copy, the cost is very reasonable. You can even download a version of it in PDF (that's the name for Adobe Acrobat files, right?). The DASH Eating plan is one of the healthiest ways to eat---and there is scientific documentation to back it up. My method differs from the DASH plan, somewhat. But my advice is: if you follow the DASH plan and also increase your water consumption, you may get just as good of benefits as a raw foodist. It's definitely a good place to start. I can give you my thoughts of how to *tweak* the plan to make it healthier. Of course, I'm a layman, and my point of view is partially speculative, although I have had good results myself. Conclusion: I now know, through personal experience, that increasing water consumption and eating more fresh produce can improve a person's health fairly quickly. I won't say it's entirely easy to follow, but it definitely works. My method includes making a blended drink, which is time consuming to make, if you do it like I do---make 30 quarts at one time. That led me to go for weeks, even months, at a time before I got up the energy to make another batch. As soon as I get time, I'm going to try to think of an easier way of doing it that would eliminate that problem. I also suffer from an enlarged prostate. That means that when I drink the amount of water that I know from experience works well for me---I need to be close to a bathroom. Since I've been working construction, bathrooms aren't always handy. That led me to decrease my water consumption as well. But I know from experience that these things work. The only problem is, you have to keep it up. Otherwise you start backing up. According to Dr. Cabot (I believe it was her), depending on the degree of liver damage, it might take a person a full year to reverse it through proper diet. She's probably right. So, I can explain my method to you (it's not very complicated, and I won't charge you a dime), but the ultimate result depends on how long you stick with it. Once good thing, however, is that I predict that the effects will be noticeable *in the way you feel*, and fairly quickly. Some people may feel results within two week; some within four weeks; and some within 6 weeks. But I predict that most people would feel quite a bit better within 6 weeks. *That* is the proof of the pudding---as they say. You will definitely feel better. One more thing. There are currently no drugs that can be given to people with liver dysfunction that have much effect. most liver specialists recommend eating a healthy diet, including lean meats and lots of fresh produce. That's what the doctor told my friend back in 1979 when he was trying to recover from a bout of hepatitis. And that advice still is given today. I wish I had time to tell you more. I will *make* the tim, however---at a later date---if anyone shows interest in this thread. meanwhile, I encourage you to check up on what I am telling you. I think you will see that I have checked my facts pretty well. And I think it will become obvious fairly quickly that I have nothing to gain here. In other words, I am sincere and have nothing to sell. Seeya C.K. |